Detecting Potential Health Problems with Pretty Litter

Our regular readers know that last year our cat Lucky had surgery to remove bladder stones. Since June’s surgery, he’s had several urinary tract infections. Lucky’s young (he just turned two) and energetic so, until we’ve seen blood in the urine, there’s been no indication through his behavior that anything was amiss. No licking, no straining, no obvious discomfort.

Lucky, like most cats, is a master at hiding discomfort. This survival instinct helps cats in the wild–but it makes it difficult for pet parents to detect problems and seek treatment before they turn into big problems.

Recently we learned about Pretty Litter™, an innovative cat litter that is designed to help you spot issues in your cat’s urine by changing color.

The super fine litter, which looks like white sand, is specially designed to monitor your cat’s health, to provide early detection for many problems, and also to be eco-friendly.

When your cat urinates in a box filled with Pretty Litter, the litter looks for problems that can range from diabetes to urinary tract infections using multiple indicators:

pH

bilirubin

blood

When Pretty Litter detects a problem, the litter changes color:

If you see a color change, you then know it’s time for a vet visit!

Along with health monitoring, Pretty Litter is also dust-free, odorless, and scent-free. The clumping litter is delivered to your door each month. I was pleasantly surprised how inexpensive this litter is; a 3-pound sack, which should last a month, is on sale right now for $19 (and it’s less expensive if you order larger amounts).

A big paws up for Pretty Litter for providing us with a tool for helping to keep our cats healthy!

We received a complimentary sack of Pretty Litter for review. All statements and opinions are entirely our own.

My cat uses puppy pads instead of a litter box, so I put just half a cup or so on the pad so that I can see the color. Maybe you could do a similar thing and just use half a cup or so, not scattered through the other litter, and watch for color changes.

I’m going to have to look into this. My kitty has Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disorder and I’m always worried there’s something else going on. I’ve gotten him to be better about using his litter box with Cat Attract litter, but this sounds like it could keep me from worry about how he’s doing!

Do not rely on this for Urinary Tract infections. It did not indicate for our cat and we thought she was fine. A couple of months later, after following up on our instincts, not the Pretty Litter, we took her in to the vet to find out she had a raging UTI. That was the word the vet used, raging. The antibiotics “cured” the UTI, but she went downhill from there. We do not recommend this product.

They say that a change in food, stress, etc. can change the cat’s pH levels so they recommend, if you do see a color change, that you watch your cat and continue to monitor the litter for 24-48 hours. If you continue to see the color change when your cat goes to the box during that period (or if you see symptoms of a problem), then they recommend heading to the vet.

I recently tried 4 bags. I definitely noticed a color change when I switched my cats to a new wet food. It made me panic at first (because I didn’t read the entire bag – oops) but I noticed everything was back to normal the next day.

It also kind of seems like all 3 of my cats enjoy urinating in the same corner of the same box and that portion changes to green often. I don’t know if it’s because 3 streams of urine combined makes it more acidic or what the deal is, but it’s never an issue if the urine doesn’t accumulate in one area. Just something to keep in mind if you have more than one cat.

Don’t waist your money on this bad product.
the costumer service is awful. I ordered two bags and only received one after I followed up couple of times. I wouldn’t waist the money for the following reason:

1. After 15 days of use, you have to discard the whole litter/bag. The pee smell gets overwhelming. They say the pee “resolves” but it doesnt. it ends up as dust in the bottom of the littler-tray. stinks!

2. My kitty once peed and it was blue. I went to get my phone to take a picture but the pee color disappeared. For those of us who work 8 hours day or so, how are we supposed to know when our cats pee color is a certain color? The color is there for minute or so then it disappears. very disappointing!

3. Ending my subscription was a nightmare! I ended it and they kept charging me. I called, I e-mailed nothing worked. I ended up chaining my credit card number.

4. Costumer service sucks! They will tell you that your bag was shipped but you wont get it. you call back and the story just continues. Waste of time.

You should NEVER form your opinions based on ONE person’s comments. I am friends with someone who began using this a long while ago, who has had the exact opposite reaction, she LOVES this litter, for exactly what she ordered (2 bags) very quickly, works all day but still found an issue one evening when she got home from a 10 hour work day.
I actually believe, based on personal knowledge, and all of the other reviews, as well as the type of work I do…this sounds more like a bad opinion based on “user error”.

Be sure to check directly with the company so they can check your tracking! We’re not associated with the company at all so I don’t have a person to point you to…but their customer service department should be able to check the package tracking for you!

I have been using Pretty Litter for a little over two months. This is my first experience using a silica based litter. I personally like the silica litter. It’s lightweight, it doesn’t clump and stick to the box like cement. I like that I can scoop the poo directly into the toilet. On the downside, about week three the litter becomes a little less absorbent and it begins to smell like a wet diaper. By week four, I couldn’t wait for my next shipment to get here so I could dump out the entire box and start over with fresh littter.
In my opinion, I don’t feel this litter controls ordor any better or worse than Fresh Step, Arm and Hammer or Cats Pride.
The video for Pretty Litter states the ingredients are dust free however I noticed a fairly significant layer of dust accumulated in the powder room where I keep my cat boxes(2). The advantage, the dust is white and doesn’t show like traditional litter.
Larger cat boxes require 2 bags of litter putting the cost for 2 boxes close to $70 per month. I justified the cost based on its ability to detect health issues early since I have a cat who has frequent urinary track infections. Unfortunately, she currently has a raging infection. The urinalysis showed blood, bacteria, leukocytes etc. but the litter showed no change in color to indicate a problem. I even took a second urine sample before starting her antibiotics and placed it directly into the litter without any results.
I have decided to cancel my subscription as there are other silica best cat litter is on the market, although they don’t detect health problems, they are much more cost-effective.

Exactly. We had the same thing happen-raging bladder infection and kidney disease and the Pretty Litter had shown yellowish green. I would never recommend this product. It lulled us into a false sense of security that she was fine and probably delayed her getting treatment. And our cat hated using it. Way overpriced for what you think you’re getting. Unfortunately, our cat passed two days ago.

Ok I’m in week three and I’m beginning to see a turquoise color at the bottom of box and it’s a bit slushy. Idontthink it’s a health problem as in the FAQ it state that this may happen around this time.

If you would be so kind as to let me know if your cats litter changes color once it gets to this stage. I’m trying to defrentiate the existence or non of a potential problem. Any response will be greatly appreciated as I have no been able to connect with customer service.

I have been unable to reach the company by phone. Left messages, no return call. Cannot cancel the membership online, you can “skip” an order. I have emailed and asked them to cancel my subscription. The smell was terrible after 2 1/2 weeks. I have 1 cat and he sometimes uses the natural outdoors. No way could we go a month on this litter.

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Welcome to CatTipper.com! I'm Paris Permenter and, with my husband and writing partner, John Bigley, I share my home with three rescue cats. John and I have authored 33 pet and travel books, and we're inspired by our cats every day.